Chrysler turnaround slow process says CEO

Chrysler Group LLC will present a five-year business plan by the end of November that will outline numbers and the path out of two years of difficulties, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Sergio Marchionne, who is also head of Italian car maker Fiat, told reporters at the Frankfurt Motor Show the restructuring of Chrysler was more difficult than he initially thought and would be a slow progress.

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We have to be absolutely clear about what we want to do with Chrysler and as a management team, where the organization is going to be in five years, Marchionne said.

We will share significant milestones, numbers and we will show how we're going to come out of this. This is a big issue and we're working really hard, he said.

Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy on June 10 by selling most of its assets to a group led by Fiat. The Italian automaker took a 20 percent stake in the struggling U.S. auto maker in return for its technology to build smaller, greener cars - a deal under which no cash changed hands.

Marchionne said Fiat still has no plans to invest in Chrysler and hoped the company would not need to seek outside capital for Chrysler's restructuring.

We were surprised by how little had been done in the past 24 months, Marchionne said. It will be a slow progress in the beginning but we will see significant improvement in 2010.

Marchionne said U.S. industry-wide auto sales should top 11 million units in 2010, up from about 10 million units forecast for this year. But he warned of a risk of additional capacity being cut in North America if demand remained stagnant.

If the numbers end up being as we see today, there is a good chance we will have to put additional stress on the manufacturing system. But it's too early to tell, Marchionne said.

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